Spiritual Malnourished

I was at a truly awesome buffet line that had everything you could want for eating. There were lots of healthy choices for me. The family just ahead of me had a spoiled fat child who would only take junk comfort food that was sweet or salty. The child was over weight but malnourished because of the quality of food chosen. The parents were setting the example.

In life we also have a spiritual buffet line with lots of choices. We can choose spiritual health food or spiritual junk food. Like a child that dines only on comfort food we may choose only what feels easy and starve spiritually while feeling good. Many of the truly nourishing spiritual offerings are difficult to assimilate but build spiritual health over time.

Spiritual health foods like meditation, prayer, faith study, practicing patience’s with others, and of course resisting temptations take effort. Like good physical health habits good spiritual health habits are a daily exercise if they are to work for us. We don’t have to be spiritually malnourished Christians because the buffet line has everything we need in great abundance.

Your Choice in Eternity

The sad thing is that we often don’t make a conscious choice. But we become distracted by non-important choice offered up by the world. We don’t see it as a choice between God and this what ever and at that moment the what ever seems like more fun. Yet that is the choice we are making.

A ball game is starting at 10 AM Sunday morning and it is a choice between worshipping God on the Sabbath or having a little fun at the ball game. But we say, “Oh I can go to church next Sunday.” The devil smiles and says but you chose not to worship God this Sunday and I have a little piece of you.”

I was on the board of directors of the YMCA in Chillicothe, Missouri and at one meeting the Aquatics Director wanted to schedule a swim meet on Saturday and Sunday. She had to be reminded that the YMCA was a Christian organization and we did not schedule anything that would pull the children out of church.

So many organizations see a blank spot on their calendars on Sunday mornings and think that nothing is going on. Then we are faced with a choice between God and some event that we would like to attend.

Yes it is in fact a choice between that event and faithfulness to God.

Smile Inside and Out

Smile inside and out.

Did you know that your mind cannot hold two opposite feelings at
the same time? You cannot be happy and sad at the exact same
time (try it right now). And did you know that when you smile,
you are fooling your mind and body into thinking you’re happy
(whether you actually are or not)?

So when you smile you create a state of being of happiness. Whether
you begin your smile in a state of happiness is
irrelevant; your smile will trigger physical and emotional
processes in your body which will lead to actual happiness. Your
smile becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy -

you are literally faking until you make it!

Happy All Saints Day

Happy All Saints Day  Today is a day to celebrate the memory of all the saints of the church who lived their faith successfully and inspired others to do the same.

In the dim past the day before was known as “All Hallows Eve” which was later corrupted to Halloween.

Fault Finders

Over the years I have known too many people who were fault finders. It seems like they spent their lives looking to find fault in other people.  Nothing pleases them as they can pick apart any good deed and make it a bad thing. Their obsession goes beyond critical to the point of being mean.

What has always amazed me it the fault they find in others is usually a reflection of their own short comings. It is as if they point out this fault in others no one will see it in them.

Oh yes they refuse to see any fault in themselves.

40 Years Ago Today

At 2100, on 29 October 1969, engineers 400 miles apart at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) prepared to send data between the first nodes of what was then known as Arpanet.

It got the name because it was commissioned by the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (Arpa).

The fledgling network was to be tested by Charley Kline attempting to remotely log in to a Scientific Data Systems computer that resided at SRI.

Kline typed an "L" and then asked his colleague Bill Duvall at SRI via a telephone headset if the letter had arrived.

It had.

Kline typed an "O". Duvall said that arrived too.

Kline typed a "G". Duvall could only report that the system had crashed.

The first of many crashes on the internet.

They got it working again by 22:30 and everything went fine. After that first misstep, the network almost never put a foot wrong.

The rest has made history and we are still making it.

Do You Have A CSA?

Do you have a CSA? No not the Confederate States of America. 

This CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. We do.

CSA is a direct connection with a farmer or co-op of farmers. It is more than going to a farmers market. When you purchase a CSA you enter into the risk of farming by paying the farmer up front at the start of the growing season by purchasing a share or shares of his crop. Then during the harvest season you collect your basket [s] of fresh produce.

This is truly farm fresh produce and it taste great. We love it.